Vivanco Carlevari, AnastassiaOosterwijk, SuzanneKleef, Gerben A. van2025-02-202025-02-202024Vivanco Carlevari, A., Oosterwijk, S., & Van Kleef, G. A. (2024). Why do people engage with the suffering of strangers? Exploring epistemic, eudaimonic, social, and affective motives. Cognition and Emotion, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2024.2385691https://hdl.handle.net/11447/9806Reading violent stories or watching a war documentary are examples in which people voluntarily engage with the suffering of others whom they do not know. Using a mixed-methods approach, we investigated why people make these decisions, while also mapping the characteristics of strangers’ suffering to gain a rich understanding. In Study 1 (N = 247), participants described situations of suffering and their reasons to engage with it. Using qualitative thematic analysis, we developed a typology of the stranger (who), the situation (what), the source (how), and the reason(s) for engaging with the situation (why). We categorised the motives into four overarching themes – epistemic, eudaimonic, social, and affective – reflecting diversity in the perceived functionality of engaging with a stranger’s suffering. Next, we tested the robustness of the identified motives in a quantitative study. In Study 2, participants (N = 250) recalled a situation in which they engaged with the suffering of a stranger and indicated their endorsement with a variety of possible motives. Largely mirroring Study 1, Study 2 participants engaged to acquire knowledge, for personal and social utility, and to feel positive and negative emotions. We discuss implications for understanding the exploration of human suffering as a motivated phenomenon.21 p.enSufferingCuriosityEmpathyMotivationSocial information seekingArticlehttps://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2024.2385691